Sunday, October 1, 2017

What are those buttons and triangles in my cells?

What are those buttons and triangles in my cells?

In Microsoft Excel, there are several options buttons and two colored triangles that can appear in or next to a cell. These buttons and triangles provide useful commands and information about the contents of the cell, and they appear at the moment you need them. This article describes what each of these buttons and triangles mean and how you can work with them.

In this article

Buttons that you might see on your worksheet

AutoCorrect Options

Paste Options

Auto Fill Options

Trace Error

Insert Options

Formatting Options

Colored triangles that you might see in your worksheet

Green triangle

Red triangle

Buttons that you might see on your worksheet

The buttons that can appear next to a cell are as follows: AutoCorrect Options, Paste Options, Auto Fill Options, Trace Error, Insert Options, and Formatting Options.

AutoCorrect Options

The AutoCorrect Options Button image button might appear when you rest the mouse pointer on the small blue box under text that was automatically corrected. For example, if you type a hyperlink or an e-mail address in a cell, the Autocorrect Options button might appear. If you find text that you do not want to be corrected, you can either undo a correction manually in the cell or turn AutoCorrect options on or off.

To manually undo an AutoCorrect operation on a cell, edit the text and make sure that the cursor is not at the end of the text in the cell. Then, press ENTER. To turn AutoCorrect options on or off, click the AutoCorrect Options button, and then make a selection from the list.

Paste Options

The Paste Options Button image button appears just below your pasted selection after you paste text or data. When you click the button, a list appears that lets you determine how to paste the information into your worksheet.

The available options depend on the type of content that you are pasting, the program that you are pasting from, and the format of the text where you are pasting.

Auto Fill Options

The Auto Fill Options Button image button might appear just below your filled selection after you fill text or data in a worksheet. For example, if you type a date in a cell and then drag the cell down to fill the cells below it, the Auto Fill Options button might appear. When you click the button, a list of options for how to fill the text or data appears.

The available options in the list depend on the content that you are filling, the program that you are filling from, and the format of the text or data that you are filling.

Trace Error

The Trace Error Button image button appears next to the cell in which a formula error occurs, and a green triangle appears in the upper-left corner of the cell.

When you click the arrow next to the button, a list of options for error checking appears.

Insert Options

The Insert Options Button image button might appear next to inserted cells, rows, or columns.

When you click the arrow next to the button, a list of formatting options appears.

Note: If you do not want this button to be displayed every time that you insert formatted cells, rows, or columns, you can turn this option off.

  1. Click the File tab, and then click Options.

  2. Click the Advanced category and then, under Cut, copy, and paste, select or clear the Show Insert Options buttons check box to turn this option on or off.

Formatting Options

The Formatting Options Button image button is used to change the scoping method for conditional formatting data in a PivotTable report.

When you click the arrow next to the button, a list of scoping options appears.

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Colored triangles that you might see in your worksheet

The colored triangles that can appear in a cell are green (error) and red (comment).

Green triangle

Error indicator in cell

A green triangle in the upper-left corner of a cell indicates an error in the formula in the cell. If you select the cell, the Trace Error Button image button appears. Click the arrow next to the button for a list of options.

Red triangle

Comment indicator in cell

A red triangle in the upper-right corner of a cell indicates that a comment is in the cell. If you rest the mouse pointer over the triangle, you can view the text of the comment.

Tip: The color of the error checking triangle indicator can be changed. Use the following procedure to change the color:

  1. Click the File tab, and then click Options.

  2. Click the Formulas category and then, under Error Checking, select the Enable background error checking check box.

  3. Click the Indicate errors using this color button, and then select a new color from the palette.

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